Yakov Smirnoff
Yakov Smirnoff
Yakov Naumovich Pokhis, better known as Yakov Smirnoff, is a Soviet-born American comedian, actor and writer. After emigrating to the United States in 1977, Smirnoff began performing as a stand-up comic. He eventually gained fame, and he reached his biggest successes in the mid-to-late 1980s, when he also appeared in several films and television shows, including his own 1986–87 sitcom, What a Country!. His comic persona was of a naive immigrant from the Soviet Union who was perpetually confused and...
NationalityRussian
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth24 January 1951
CityOdessa, Ukraine
CountryRussian Federation
In America, you drive car. In Soviet Russia, car drive you!
In America, you assassinate president. In Soviet Russia, president assassinate you!
In Russia, if a male athelete loses he becomes a female athelete.
In Russia we only had two TV channels. Channel One was propaganda. Channel Two consisted of a KGB officer telling you: Turn back at once to Channel One.
The ad in the paper said 'Big Sale. Last Week.' Why advertise? I already missed it. They're just rubbing it in.
My father described this tall lady who stands in the middle of the New York harbor, holding high a torch to welcome people seeking freedom in America. I instantly fell in love.
The reason gas prices are so high is because the oil is in Texas and Oklahoma and all the dipsticks are in Washington.
Never having alone time is real tough on people.
We have been learning since we were children how to make money, buy things, build things. The whole education system is set up to teach us how to think, not to feel.
It's kind of bittersweet. The human spirit is not measured by the size of the act, but by the size of the heart.
I like American women. They do things sexually Russian girls never dream of doing - like showering.
I found out that when you get married the man becomes the head of the house. And the woman becomes the neck, and she turns the head any way she wants to.
I believe that love and laughter can only happen when one person takes the time to think about what would cause the other person to feel good.
Homosexuality in Russia is a crime and the punishment is seven years in prison, locked up with the other men. There is a three year waiting list.